Through Hardship, the Stars
by Contessa Omega
Summary: Humanity has been pushed around for 500 years by alien races. When they finally emerge victorious over their enemies, they encounter yet another set of races. Turian? Asari? Citadel? Will Humanity drag another coalition down with it? Or will the galaxy finally find it's peace? (Put on hold i am afraid. Check my profile for more information.)
1. The Lessons We Learned

**Note: I do not own Sword of the Stars nor Mass Effect. This was purely meant for venting creativity**

**Through Hardship, the Stars**

**Chapter 1: The Lessons We Learned...**

From the beginning of the so-called "Industrial Revolution" onward, Humans began very rapidly to both overpopulate and environmentally devastate their own home planet. Certain unfortunate distribution philosophies created a steadily growing number of Humans with little to no access to vital resources while others remained wealthy, overfed and wasteful. The impoverished fringe population rapidly grew despite the pressures of starvation, disease and environmental toxins on their proliferation, until they outnumbered the so-called elite of the "developed world" by a factor of ten. The resulting planetary wars and limited nuclear exchanges were even more gruesome and destructive then the effects of overpopulation and careless industrialization had been; a sizeable percentage of the homeworld's native species were lost as well as roughly 70% of the Human population.

During the Reconstruction Age a philosophical shift was observed in the surviving population of Humans. The newly emerging Consortium governments more easily signed armistices, environmental protection accords and peace agreements. War in general was no longer universally revered as the most valuable and noble of Human endeavours as had often been the case in previous centuries. A tendency towards cooperation and mutual support was encouraged.

With the discovery of the Node drive (1), a motive for further cooperation among the various Human Consortia was found and the available resources of several governments were pooled to fund the research and development of the first interstellar space ship. Christened the Nova Maria, the ship made several successful Node jumps to and from nearby star systems before the first deep space colony was planned.

As the Nova Maria boarded its passengers for launch, intent on the first adventure of space colonization for the Human species, tragedy struck. An unknown alien fleet, consisting of a Dreadnought-sized ship and several support vessels, arrived in the Human race's home system. The planetary defences of the Human race, which had never before encountered another star-faring species, were negligible and easily brushed aside by superior alien firepower. The Nova Maria was destroyed in the first volley with all hands lost and the Human homeworld was bombarded from space for 48 hours afterward, resulting in massive devastation and catastrophic loss of life.

Only the legacy of Humankind's suicidal past eventually saved their homeworld from complete destruction. After nearly 36 hours of struggle, the curators of the planet's former ICBM arsenal finally managed to reactivate their remaining stock of ancient missiles which had been stored for decommission in the silos of the North American and Asian continents. A total of 3000 fission and fusion bombs were launched on the descending alien fleet, destroying it's full compliment of Destroyers and causing serious damage to the Dreadnought.

Thereafter, the remains of the alien fleet left orbit and limped to parts unknown...

Rebuilding from this devastation took the Human race several years. Although the Human homeworld was afterwards lightly populated and there was little pressure to expand, certain peculiarities of Human psychology re-emerged from their slumber. The Human race re-learned its historical taste for war and SolForce (2) never lacked, and still do not lack willing volunteers. Most Human spacers had bitter memories of the alien attack and are old enough to have lost friends and family in the fires, floods and chaos that followed. Accordingly, although the official motto of their Space Corps is "Per Ardua Ad Astra" – "Through Hardship, the Stars"— the unofficial motto of Humans in space remain "Repensum est Canicula" – "Payback is a Bitch."

**Codex Entry**

(1): The discovery of the "subspace" dimension has allowed Human propulsion engineers to take advantage of the gravitational stress fractures of the universe. The principle at work is simple: four-dimensional space time appears to have a crystalline structure, and massive bodies such as stars and black holes create distortions in the space-time continuum. These distortions are connected to breaches of space-time known as "subspace". In essence, subspace is an interstitial dimension, which connects one gravitational distortion to another.

Connections between massive bodies in subspace are formed by means of similar "resonance" frequencies between two gravitic "nodes".

The cause of this "resonance" cannot be fully explained without resorting to the esoteric extremes of Starstring Theory, but the practical result is that the distance between two nodes in subspace is highly compressed, relative to the positions these two nodes might occupy in ordinary space-time. A Human vessel equipped with a Node drive can enter and leave subspace a will, and thus traverse the compressed distance between nodes very rapidly. When the vessel emerges from subspace again, it will have traversed a great distance in a short period of time, thus effectively achieving superluminal speed. This "Faster-Then-Light" travel is possible any two points which are connected by a fracture line.

Chains of nodal connection between stars are sometimes referred to as "starstreams", a term coined by the first subspace traveller, Blasky Yao Hsiang. However, the phrase "starstream" can be somewhat misleading. Although the Node connections between stars do form a sort of chain, if plotted through ordinary space-time, a Human ship travelling in subspace will not be crossing those regions of space as a physical object. The only evidence of the ship's passage in ordinary space-time is a series of gravitational pulses, which indicate the presence of the vessel in subspace. Although a sufficiently sensitive scanner might be able to determine the mass of a Human fleet in motion or the number of vessels travelling together, those vessels cannot be contacted or intercepted in ordinary space-time.

(2): SolForce. The united military, government and colonial representative of the Human race. The SolForce of today emerged out of the defeat of the alien fleet attacking Earth. Upon it's formation, SolForce declared martial law, the various Consortium governments either dissolved and later merged with SolForce, or fled from Earth out of fear that re-establishing a military would send the Human race down the path of destruction once again. Nevertheless, SolForce has remained Humanity's shield, sword and hammer in the stars.

**Author's Note**

This has been floating around my head ever since playing Sword of the Stars and Mass Effect. Do not worry, as this was merely a recounting of the Human history. I will go into depth of the events occurring after these tragic times next chapter. And, if you enjoy a little spoiler: It will result in the encounter with a strange relay...


	2. The Sins of the Father

**Note: I do not own Sword of the Stars nor Mass Effect. This was purely meant for venting creativity**

**Through Hardship, the Stars**

** Chapter 2: The Sins of the Father**

Following the disastrous alien attack on Earth, and the formation of SolForce, Humanity set it's goals. To venture out into the unknown, forge a place for themselves, and bring an end to the ones that devastated their homeworld. They kept that promise...

0 AHA (After Hiver Attack): Rebuilding commences a few short months after the alien attack. Even with all of it's advancements, Humanity's homeworld will not be the same for the next 30 years.

In the same year the Destroyer-Class is constructed in the surviving shipyards as a means for defence. It is of a modular design, and as that, can be modified to suit the needs. The modules originally developed were:

The Armour Class: A heavy and cramp ship by Destroyer standards with a battery of 3 light weapons on it's broadsides, along with a single medium weapon on top of it. The Armour Destroyer makes up the bulk of the SolForce Navy.

The Extended Range Class: Extra fuel tanks were fitted on the chassis for scouting missions. It was fitted with a single light weapon on it's top for defence. There were few produced, as they were mostly used to survey surround star systems for resources.

The Tanker Class: Very self-explanatory. The Tanker was fitted with large reserve fuel tanks, and always accompany vessels of all sizes on their missions. It has no weapon mounts, which leaves it quite defenceless, and are often kept in the back of the fleet line during combat. For good reason to. The fuel is highly volatile, so the destruction of said vessels in the middle of a fleet would cause unnecessary damage.

The Marine Delivery Class: A very lightly armoured ship with 6 launch tubes for assault shuttles carrying marines over to enemy vessels. It has no forms of weapons, meaning they will have to be protected, as the bridge crew is also coordinating the marines inboard enemy vessels. Human marines were often the laughing stock by the other races, due to their only real advantage being speed and agility, which were nullified in the small corridors of combat vessels.

5 AHA: SolForce establishes Black List, a covert operations unit ordered with defending Human interest under threat of alien influence. Black List eventually created an archive detailing major events that would have an impact on Humanity. Positive or otherwise. The first to be added was Black 0: The alien attack on Earth.

15 AHA: Humanity makes First Contact with the Taark (1), an ancient space-faring race. The contact is later detailed as a fiasco by SolForce, as the Taark opened fire upon the Human vessels in orbit of Earth shortly after a transmission for peace was sent. Humanity survives the attack, and with the salvaged Tarka technology, research for a bigger line of vessels commences.

27 AHA: The Tarka commander in charge of the effort to subdue the "Upstart Apes"is called back to Capitol, the homeworld of the Taark, to answer for his failure on the Human issue.

On the Human side of the affairs, Earth's re-terraforming was almost complete. Only few patches of land remain barren and lifeless at the moment. The pressure to expand is even lighter then before, with settlers scrambling for 10 new worlds colonized by Humanity since the disastrous First Contact with the Taark.

Thankfully their many victories was merely due to numbers, major logistical problems on the Tarka side, and an incompetent commander leading it all. The newer line of ships, the Cruiser-Class, is revealed after 13 years of research and development. Keeping with the modular design, a variety of vessels first produced were:

The Armour Class: Like it's Destroyer cousin, the Armour Class of the Cruisers is a heavily compact ship with a number of medium weapon mounts on it's broadsides, two heavy mounts on it's top, and four light weapon mounts on it's underside. A single medium mount is also placed on top of the bridge section and engine section for added punch.

The Point Defence Class: Two armoured beams going over and under the main chassis of the vessel provide a number of places to put light weapon mounts, about 6 per beam total. Although the gauss cannons had now been fitted with green laser arrays, mostly due to reverse-engineered Tarka technology. Plans for a red or even ultra-violet variant was already being planned.

The Extended Range Class: Unlike it's Destroyer counterpart the Extended Range of the Cruiser lines was more armoured to protect against the many horrible things that lurk in the darkness of space. It was a smart move, as most Extended Range Destroyers who reported unknown contact in systems they visited, were almost immediately afterwards silenced. Still, no weapon mounts were provided because of the large fuel tanks.

The Refinery Class: Unlike the Tanker Destroyer, the Refinery Cruiser can use resources from a planet's surface to produce fuel as the fleet moves through space. They still need Tanker Destroyers to store it all, and planets that are drained completely of resources are of no use to the refinery. SolForce has instituted a very, much appreciated form dictating that bare planets are the perfect place for garden worlds, as there will not be anything left for hostile aliens to attack unless they want to attack and/or enslave the population.

The Salvage and Repair Class: With the use of autonomous worker drones, the SaR is able to repair vessels in the heat of combat by opening it's four large cargo bay doors. This will release the needed equipment to repair ships with, and the drones simply pick them up, and repairs the friendly ship with great speed.

32 AHA: Humanity makes contact with the Hivers (2), a race of insectoid beings. It is however shocking to discover it was one of their small nesting fleet that attacked Earth 32 years prior, and the Human public demands retribution. SolForce delivers, and the First Contact War resumes (Second Contact War being with the Taark.). In the meantime SolForce is also pushing the Taark back, the Emperor of the Taark along with his councillors however, are still debating and arguing over who shall lead the retaliation fleet against the Humans, who have already bombarded 5 colonies and damaged 2 major border fleets.

56 AHA: Black List initiates Project Babel. The goal to create a superior Human soldier. The first tests are however deemed a complete failure, as any form of change to the DNA structure results in a 100% fatality rate. Instead Black List changes it's focus on the engineering aspects of the project, and the development for an armoured combat suit begins.

In the meantime SolForce diverts 55% of it's armed forces to attack Hiver space, and with star charts salvaged from wreaks of Hiver vessels, they take on planet at a time as they search for the Hiver homeworld.

SolForce Science Division are also busy, with the introduction of the Tarka Dreadnought in combat theatres across the Second Contact front, and with the pieces left behind by the Hiver Dreadnought that escaped Earth 56 years ago, the researchers hope they can create their own Dreadnought-Class. However, funding and a lack of staff sets them back greatly.

60 AHA: SolForce makes contact with the Frontier Alliance (3), a collection of Human worlds that originated from the Consortia that left Earth following the Hiver attack. They have already brokered peace with yet another race, the Liir (4). The Liir are a race of sea-creatures, resembling the dolphins that once habited Earth. The Liir seemed to be a peaceful race, but after SolForce's begins military operations against the Frontier Alliance, they join the Human group against the forces of SolForce.

72 AHA: The Hiver homeworld is discovered, and SolForce readies a fleet detattchment to bombard the planet, and hopefully eliminate the Queen at Black List's suggestion. Without the Queen, the Hivers will descend into chaos and disorder. Easy pickings for SolForce to wipe them out.

The attack however is a disaster (5), when the fleet exits Nodespace, they run straight into a field of Hiver space mines, destroying a good portion of the fleet, and leaving the surviving vessels being ripped apart by the orbital defence platforms of the Hivers. SolForce was once again forced to rethink their strategy.

However, salvation came at that moment. The Director of SolForce, Solomon Blasky (6), grandson of the first traveller in subspace, died of old age, and Ashlide Flake (7) took over. She had a reputation as The Iron Maiden among her troops, and even the aliens feared her. The Taark called her Va'ala, which roughly translates into Lady of Stone. The Hivers had called her The Mad Queen due to her unorthodox strategies during combat. She did however save Humanity from the alien hordes by putting SolForce and Black List on the defensive, ordered all operations beyond SolForce territory to halt, and rebuild the catastrophic loss of both crews and fleets in Solomon's campaigns.

Flake would make sure SolForce remained isolated from the rest of the galaxy for the next 28 years.

100 AHA: Ashlide Flake is forcefully removed from office by a group of higher ranking officers, due to the fact that Flake had numerous times in the last few years declined all hostile actions against the aliens and traitors of the Frontier Alliance. Flake is afterwards placed in cryogenic storage, as SolForce knows great leaders such as herself were few. The leader of this much-needed coup was Edward MacKenzie. Upon is entry into office he lifted Flake's former order to cease hostilities, and now to resume them with even more hatred and valour.

The Frontier Alliance was the first to fall, with it's capitol worlds bombarded into submission, and it's leaders arrested. The region that the Frontier Alliance once inhabited was later re-colonized by SolForce, and operations against the Liir were planned in the following years. The Third Contact War was about to begin.

114 AHA: The Argos Incident. The AI Argos, the first created by SolForce, and supposed to be an assistant to the Director of SolForce, suddenly went rogue. He claimed 3 worlds for himself, and SolForce was forced to respond after the AI began to attack nearby systems for resources.

126AHA: The Argos Incident is resolved. The mad AI Argos is decommissioned, and safety locks are put in place for a new generation of AI's. Although they can think for themselves, they are modelled to only serve those chosen for it as a last safety measure.

138 AHA: After several debates, the AI safety locks are put into place. Mass production of the next generation of "Safe AI's" begins. That same year Black List initiate their search for all the horrors of the galaxy, eventually bringing the Black List Archive up to 20 entries, who in turn have their own sub-enties for officials and Black List personnel to review.

189 AHA: Edward MacKenzie authorizes the SolForce Science Division to start research on suspended animation, as the dying old man hopes it can lengthen his life. He gives the Science Division director, Conrad Vance, all funding that he needs, and in only a few short years MacKenzie's wish would be fulfilled.

192 AHA: Upon discovering the technique of suspended animation, Conrad Vance puts forward a special project to Director MacKenzie. If he succeeds it could lengthen the Human lifetime to 250 years. MacKenzie agrees, and Vance is given 90% of the SolForce budget to work with.

200 AHA: Conrad Vance is successful in his research, although Edward MacKenzie was by the time he finished already on his last leg. Director MacKenzie would use this time to fulfil his dream. To finally bring an end to the Hiver menace. The Dreadnought and Babel Projects are re-opened, staffed with the best and brightest minds SolForce has to offer, and given the best laboratories needed.

208 AHA: The Hiver race is declared extinct to the population of SolForce, although the military commanders would hate to admit it, but the Princesses of the Hivers managed to band together a large fleet of surviving Hiver ships then leave the Hiver home system. Edward MacKenzie however would not live to see his dream come true, as he died of old age mere minutes before the Queen Palace fell. Recovered from the devastated Hiver homeworld was the Queen's crown jewels. They were displayed on MacKenzie's funeral, and without them, new Queens cannot be formed. The Princesses will be able to sustain the Hivers, but they will be on no condition to fight SolForce. The First Contact War is declared over by SolForce. The remains of Hiver space is colonized years later by SolForce.

The victory came in hand with the completion of the Dreadnought and Babel projects, with three types of Dreadnought designs being implemented:

The Combat Class: Like the armour classes of the Destroyers and Cruisers, this was designed with protection in mind, but it does have however 6 medium mounts on 3 levels on each broadside, 5 heavy mounts on top of it, plus 3 heavy mounts on each side of the bridge. Under the bridge is a large tube that will release a Photon Torpedo, made of pure energy, and solely designed for the Dreadnought.

The Siege Class: This section has the 3 levelled weapon mounts replaced by High Energy beam modules, which can tear apart even the toughest of Taark and Hiver armours in seconds. The HE beams are however slow to charge, and the 3 heavy weapon mounts on top of the vessel along with the photon torpedo tube are it's only means of defence, as 2 HE beam modules are mounted along the bridge area on this type of vessel.

The Bombardment Class: The most feared of all of the Dreadnoughts. The Bombardment Class has no means of defence except a single heavy mount on the engine section. HE beam modules cover the ship. Four on each side, three on top of it the chassis, and finally three more on the sides and above the bridge. As with all Dreadnoughts a photon torpedo tube is mounted below the bridge.

Project Babel however, was a well-needed addition to the Human ground military. The Babel Powered Combat Suit stands about twice the size of a normal Human, 3 layers of armour to protect against attacks, a retractable bayonet in the left wrist, a plasma pistol holstered at the left hip, a laser rifle holstered on the right side of the spine, and a photon shotgun holstered on the other side. A T-shaped visor in the helmet contains both the means for the solider inside to visually identify his targets, should the holographic HUD not be functioning at the time. Due to all the equipment and armour however, the suit is very slow, and can be an easy target for a skilled marksman. Nevertheless, the BPCS was highly praised by ground commanders to be reliable, efficient and powerful. Mass production started right before the assault on the Hiver homeworld.

209 AHA: Linda Archers becomes Director of SolForce, intending on keeping MacKenzie's policy of hostility towards aliens, and as of such, the SolForce Navy is given a 15% large budget after her initiation.

259 AHA: Capitol, the homeworld of the Taark, is bombarded from orbit by SolForce. The death of the Emperor and his council sends ripples throughout Tarka Space. When SolForce leaves the broken world behind, the once unified Taark split and fracture. SolForce hoped this would happen, as it effectively ended the Second Contact War. A quarantine zone is established around the surviving Taark space, and the systems attacked by SolForce is colonized months later.

293 AHA: A SolForce expedition fleet to Liir space is surprised to find Liir fighting other Liir. The once believed unity of the telepathic race seemed to be broken. From transmission samples recovered in the wreaked husks of the former Liir ships, it is discovered the Liir are fighting a civil war over whether or not they should deliver retribution to SolForce for destroying the Frontier Alliance. From scans it is detected the war is a stalemate, which the SolForce officials are relieved to hear. Another quarantine is established, and the Liir are isolated in from the rest of the galaxy...

294 – 332 AHA: A number of border colonies segregate from SolForce, becoming the Independent Colonies. Although SolForce does not recognise their independence, they do not send military forces to subdue them, due to a large number of protests following the Frontier Alliance defeat.

348 AHA: The Zuul (8) launch a massed offensive towards the Independent Colonies territory, starting the Fourth Contact War. 128 star systems fall during the first wave, and the populations are enslaved and sent off to be sold in Zuul Space. SolForce is quick to respond, sending military aid to push the Zuul slavers back. The Independent Colonies at first protested, but later agreed to allow minimal military aid arrive to combat the Zuul, much to the annoyance of the SolForce admirals and commanders.

380 AHA: The SolForce officials agree that as long as the Independent Colonies continue their show of stubborn pride, the navy will not be able to push the Zuul back effectively, and as such, Director Archers agrees for a large scale attack behind the enemy lines.

Accompanying the large force will be 1/3 of the SolForce Navy, the other two halfs fighting against the Zuul at the borders. The fleet would not return for another 5 months.

When the fleet does return, they have taken considerable many losses, but the price was worth it, as the Zuul are retreating to regroup. A large wave of xenophobia hits all over Human Space following the revealing of what the Zuul did during their time on the occupied worlds. The Independent Colonies are still reluctant to rejoin SolForce, but the major hostilities between it's leaders were cleared up.

392 AHA: Director Archers calls the admirals of the Military Council to discuss the Zuul problem. Although the bulk of the invasion fleet was either defeated or retreated back to their own space, there was still the problem of independent Zuul slavers attacking colonies. It is agreed that SolForce must deliver a blow so hard to the Zuul, that they will have to retreat far enough from Human Space to stop the Slaver attacks.

414 AHA: The Ihaan Offensive commences. SolForce attacks the Zuul core worlds in the Ihaan Star Cluster, employing the tactics of total war, the Human fleets systematically destroy anything of value. Shipyards, cities, ships, slave pens, everything. This action splits the remaining Zuul worlds, and slavers begin to fight among themselves for resources and power. SolForce sets up another quarintine, this one with a Priority Black order, meaning only ships under the direct control of Black List is able to enter or leave the quarantined area.

415 AHA: Linda Archers retires, seeing that she had done her part for Humanity. The next Director, Harkov Millan authorizes Black List to take samples from the cryogenically stored body of Ashlide Flake, as he was merely chosen as the next Director due to the line of succession. The samples are cloned by Black List, and the clone is given a new name and history, but the experiences and skills of Flake is still present. Harkov intends to step down from office once the clone finishes it's accelerated ageing.

438 AHA: Xenophobia is given a new spark when the Morrigi (9), a race of bird-like creatures make contact with SolForce. Their crown-prince declarers war on SolForce, commencing the Fifth Contact War, and the amassed Morrigi fleets brush aside the weak defences of the Independent Colonies. The SolForce Navy responds in force, but the Morrigi are able to outmanoeuvre the SolForce fleets with quicker and more agile combat vessels, causing a 78% fatality rate among SolForce personel fighting near the border.

445 AHA: The Black List clone leaves the SolForce Academy, now known as Margareth Frostshire, with flying colours. Black List gives the clone an immediate Captain promotion, as the grunt work is not needed, with all of Flake's experiences buried already in Margareth's mind. Director Millan, now informed by Black List of Margareth's real identity and history, immediately calls her to Earth. He then steps down as Director, and passes the title onto Margareth, much to her shock. Nevertheless, she took the position, becoming the youngest Director in the history of SolForce at just 34 years old.

492 AHA: The war with the Morrigi grinds to a standstill and stalemate at the border between the two nations, and at Margareth's orders, most of the SolForce Navy is drawn to the battles there, leaving only small task forces, minor fleets and the network of defence stations behind for protection.

Meanwhile, a strange artefact is discovered not far from the Independent Colony Shanxi. The Independent Council decides to keep the information hidden from SolForce, and try to exploit it themselves.

500 AHA: The Morrigi are retreating, the war having dragged on long enough for their reserves to become empty. SolForce presses on, but orders coming from Margareth, now finally being respected enough to be called Director Frostshire, states that the Morrigi home system is not to be invaded if found, but quarantined, as done many times before. She has however ordered that all other systems around the home system be removed of Morrigi presence, which might takes years to complete. Her decision is a total mystery to the Military Council.

Black List in the meantime uncovers the mysterious artefact discovered by the Independent Colonies 8 years prior, and informs Margareth. A SolForce fleet is sent to both Shanxi and the artefact, with the SolForce top scientist Aya Vance onboard, and a staff of researchers sent by the Independent Colonies assistance. The Military Council agrees not present their anger for the Independent Colonies keeping the artefact hidden, and instead concentrates on the task at hand. Discovering what it is...

**Codex Entry**

(1): The Taark are a race of reptilian creatures with five-digit hands and feet. Their scales often seem to be of a green-yellow-ish mix, but colours such as cyan, red, light green and others have been observed. There is little difference in the male and female, but it is known that females are more slender, their scales seem less developed, and some areas are even completely devout of scales. There are two types of males. Unchanged and Changed. Unchanged males are how all Tarka males looked like before their space age. Completely scale-covered bodies, the scales themselves are more developed, and they seem to be more bulky and muscular. Changed males are huge hulking beasts, walking on all fours, they are used as war breasts and commanders of vessels. SolForce has not gathered enough intelligence how or why the Changed males are given command of vessels, as their brain seems to de-evolve somewhat during the change, making them more prone to do mistakes an Unchanged male would have done.

(2): The Hivers are an insectoid race of aliens, their hive mind allows their fleets to coordinate their actions with almost machine-like precision. At the heart of the Hiver Empire is the Queen, who is directing the billions of workers, warriors, marines and builders to their various tasks. Thankfully, a court of Princesses are there to relieve their mother of some of the more tiring aspects. The Queen and the Princesses link their minds together during times of war and conflict, as the extra fleets, drones and warriors that are in need of direction can greatly tire the Queen. The males of the Hivers are what you would expect. Everything that is below the Queen and the Princesses. Once a Queen dies, there is a large age of chaos in the Hiver society. A chosen Princess is given the crown jewels, and is then encased in a cocoon until she is ready. Once the cocoon opens again the Princess will become the new Queen. This process can take decades to complete.

(3): The Frontier Alliance. Formed out of the Consortia that left Earth following the formation of SolForce, upon their discovery 60 years later they had already brokered peace with the Liir, a race of psychic sea-creatures. The Frontier Alliance did not have military vessels except for the needed law enforcement and patrol fleets, so when SolForce returned in 100 AHA following their disastrous defeat at the hands of the Liir, the meagre defences of the Alliance was destroyed or captured. The dream of peaceful co-existence between the races was quickly snuffed out by Human hands...

(4): The Liir is a race of telepathic fish-like creatures. Their "phantom fleets" is one of the most peculiar technologies encountered by SolForce. Cloaking and shield technology was unheard of until Humanity met the Liir, and the top researchers of SolForce has been working for over 400 years to reverse-engineer the technology. Sadly without luck. The Liir were originally uplifted by an ancient race for use as slaves. Once the Liir understood the forced industrialization of their homeworld would destroy the ecosystem, they rebelled, and stole a great deal of technology. In order to protect their interests, the Liir forged themselves an empire, then split it off to the various sub-races of the Liir, which was not a smart move upon SolForce's discovery of the civil war that erupted in 293 AHA.

(5): First Battle of Imperial Hive. Once the information regarding the location of the Hiver homeworld reached SolForce, it became clear that it had to be destroyed to please the public. The attack would consist of 1000 Cruisers and 5000 Destroyers, who would wipe out the orbital defences in a small pocket, allowing the whole fleet to run through the rest of the defences to bombard the planet. The attack however was later discovered to be a complete and utter catastrophic disaster. The fleet exited into a Hiver minefeild, destroying most of the vessels and disabling the rest. The Hiver defence fleet then picked the survivors off one by one. Black List admitted it might have been an intentional information leak by the Hivers afterwards.

(6): Solomon Blasky was the Director of SolForce during the earlier years. He was a strictly pro-human, and any form of action against Humanity was seen as a deceleration of war in his eyes. His aggressive campaigns across Tarka, Hiver and Alliance space drained the military reserves of SolForce to the breaking point. He refused to step down despite the advise of the admirals on the Military Council, and a coup against him was even plotted. It did not come to that, as he died of old age, and both the Military Council and SolForce was grateful of his replacement.

(7): Ashlide Flake was the Director of SolForce after Solomon Blasky. She was considered the heroine of SolForce due to her actions. All of them contributed towards the betterment of Humanity, which made her very popular. Following the disastrous campaigns of Blasky, she pulled the surviving fleets back over to border to SolForce Space, and initiated a policy of isolationism which would endure for over 28 years. By now SolForce was ready for another go at the galactic stage, yet Flake hesitated. She was eventually forcefully removed from office in a coup lead by Edward MacKenzie. Her body was later stored in cryogenic suspension by Black List, as heroes and heroines are not a common sight...

(8): The Zuul are a race of Jackal-like humanoids. They were genetically modified to be the ultimate warriors, being both psychic, strong and an insanely resilient. From a time they remained in the shadows as SolForce clashed with the Tarka, Hiver, Alliance and Liir, their independent slavers only making an attack on colonies at random for slaves. It was not until 348 AHA that the Zuul emerged in force, intending on conquering all and find their gods, the ones who created them. SolForce stood it's ground, the Independent Colonies were not so lucky, and the right of sentient beings was constantly violated by the Zuul forces that occupied the worlds.

(9): The Morrigi is a race of bird-creatures. They have been known to be astute traders, but mighty warriors aswell. They only emerged onto the galactic stage in 438 AHA, when their crown-prince and his court of clans declared war on SolForce for "Defiling the sacred stars." SolForce responded to their attacks by commencing a war of attrition, this would ultimately result in the Morrigi emptying the reserves built up for the war. Yet again the Independent Colonies was at the front of these attacks, straining the already difficult relations between SolForce and the Independent Colonies.

**Author's Note**

Phew! Finally done. This took a good deal of replaying through SotS again, but it was worth it. I hope this will please the ones who wanted longer chapters. Just so you know, things are going to get more in detail regarding battles next chapter, for after all. There can be something horrible on the other side of that artefact...or something incredibly retarded.

**Update**: I went through a thorough rewrite of my mistakes. Fixed a couple of sentences and so forth. This will be my last major update before I begin writing Chapter 4, which I will work on throughout the week.

If you find any more mistakes (Which I assume you will.) don't hesitate to send me a PM about it.


	3. Unforeseen Consequences Part 1

**I do not own Sword of the Stars nor Mass Effect. This was purely meant for venting creativity**

**Through Hardship, the Stars**

** Chapter 3: Unforeseen Consequences: Part 1**

In the reaches beyond Citadel Space a small fleet of ships silently crept through the darkness. It was of Turian design. The peacekeepers of the Council often had hundreds of such fleets scouring the uncharted regions of space looking for both invaders, valuable rarities and lawbreakers. This fleet was however commanded by a special Turian. The frustrated type.

Captain Krylin was one such Turian. "It is impossible. Relay 314 is completely dead. The reading might just have been an asteroid floating close to the Element Zero core." he shook his head dismissively in his command chair on the bridge of his cruiser, the _Singularity_. The flagship of the small patrol fleet consisting of 15 frigates and 3 cruisers.

"We cannot be certain without investigating the relay, Captain." Lieutenant Gallis, Krylin's second in command onboard cut in.

"You're still young, Lieutenant." Krylin turned his head to face Gallis. "One thing I have learned after 5 years in the Captain chair, is that there cannot possibly be an unauthorized activation of a relay this deep in Hierarchy territory. Our listening posts would have detected that ages ago."

Lieutenant Gallis seemed ready to protest at Krylin's statement when the helmsman cut into the conversation.

"We have arrived at Relay 314, Captain. Visual confirmation in 5 minutes." he reported, and Krylin nodded in response.

"Bring us in, and scan the relay. We will head back to Aephus once we are certain the relay is still inactive." Krylin ordered, and the fleet speeded towards the mass relay.

**On the other side of the Shanxi Relay, one hour earlier**

The artifact hovered peacefully in the space above Shanxi, the Independent Colony it was discovered above. Today however was not to peaceful, as both SolForce and Independent Colony ships were investigating every inch of the dark, yet slake metallic structure.

Onboard the SolForce Command Cruiser (1) _Kiev _stood Aya Vance (2). Top researcher of SolForce, Head of Scientific Staff, member of the Military Council, and known as Cherry by her men due to her positive nature. The _Kiev_'s observation deck had been refitted into a science laboratory, and all of the scientific staff was already hard at work studying samples taken from the artifact or running simulations on it's purpose.

Aya however was currently talking with Director Frostshire in the communications room. Standing in the full SolForce commanding officer uniform. The black marine armour, leg, arm and knee protectors, armoured boots and gloves, and the dark blue shoulder pads to show her rank as a scientist.

"It is truly an amazing piece of technology. Simply uncovering the alloy properties could sky-rocket our amour techniques forward hundreds of years." Aya seemed ready to fly into the roof herself due to excitement.

"I did not contact you to hear your theories, Aya. I came here for a status report. Will this piece of alien technology be harmful in any way?" Frostshire sighed in slight irritation.

"Oh...right. Yes." Aya pulled herself out of the scientific speech. "We have managed to extract a number of alloy samples, which I have already told you are very resilient, yet sleek and strong at the same time." she placed one of the datalogs onto a nearby desk, continuing onto the next one.

"Go on." Frostshire was not impressed at the moment. They had already after all managed to create a prototype shield generator based on Liir design, but as of now it was to large and cumbersome to be placed on a starship, but of course Margareth was confident that they would eventually succeed, like they did when they first discovered the Node drive.

"We have been been able to also acquire a sample of the core of the structure. It seems to be powered by an element not know to Humanity as of yet." Aya continued.

This sparked Margareth's curiosity. "What kind of element?"

"From what tests we have been able to perform it has the atomic number of zero, which has been though impossible for millennia. Once introduced to an electrical current, this "Element Zero" will release dark energy. Upon the release a positive current of electricity will increase the mass of an object, while a negative current decreases mass."

"Very interesting. Could this be a weapon? It could propel large ordinances through space by simply reducing it's mass until it hits it's target." Margareth shared her idea out loud with Aya.

"It could, but my assistants believe it could also be used for transportation means aswell." Aya noted.

"Good point. I will direct the rest of Task Force Avion to Shanxi. Expect the Dreadnought _Halifax _to arrive in a few hours. In the meantime activate the artifact once you discover how to do so. The Independent Colony vessels can head through afterwards. No point in risking our own men when there options." Margareth ordered, not leaving any room for a change of plans.

"I could not agree more, Director. A report will be sent once we discover what is on the other side of the artifact." Aya nodded and closed the communication channel, and then she left the room with her datapads.

**One hour later, Turian side of the relay**

"We have visual cont-Captain!" the helmsman suddenly shouted.

"What? What is it?!" Krylin shot up, having almost fallen asleep in his chair.

"The relay! It is active!" Gallis could not believe what she saw. The relay was indeed active, the blue glow of the Element Zero core lighting the surrounding area in a dim blue shade, the metallic rings spinning carelessly to hold the Element Zero in place, when they suddenly spinned faster and faster, until finally a group of 3 small ships exited the relay.

The ships were of a design that none on the bridge knew of. The large ring-shaped engine, small and compact mid-section, and a large open window for what they assumed what the bridge was, a metallic spire sitting on the underside of the bridge section.. All of them looked identical, and there were no detectable weapons as of yet.

"C-Cap...Captain?" the Communication Officer nervously asked Krylin.

"Yes, Ensign?" Krylin turned to face him, slightly shaken by the sight himself.

"Is...shouldn't...we intiate...First Contact?" he questioned, still in his shocked form of speech.

"No." Both the Weapons Officer and Krylin turned to Lieutenant Gallis, who the word originated from.

"They have broken Council law. Even a new species should understand the danger of opening dead mass relays."

"I agree, Lieutenant." Krylin nodded. "Signal the fleet and order them to ready firing algorithms on those ships." he ordered, and the Communication Officer nodded quickly before transmitting the order to the fleet. "Weapons Officer. Give me a report on the enemy weapon capability."

"But Sir!" the Weapons Officer protested.

"Why are you not following my order?" Krylin growled at the young Turian.

"This new species could have barely stepped off their homeworld, the weak structure of the spacecraft confirms this. If we attack, it is highly probable that they will become reluctant to join the Council once they reveal themselves." the Weapons Officer hope that this would convince the Captain.

"Who said that they would join the Citadel?" Krylin said bluntly, much to the horror of the Weapons Officer. "They are clearly an upstart race with no experience in the danger of mass relays. The Hierarchy would agree that it is better for them to become a client race."

"But Si-" the Weapons Officer was however cut off by Krylin.

"Do not question me again! If you disagree with my orders, then i am releaving you of your duties!" Krynlin shouted. Ever second they wasted here could be time for the new race to discover that they had no intention of a peaceful negotiation.

The Weapons Officer sighed and nodded in defeat, speaking a few seconds later. "No detectable weapon ports as of yet. I cannot register a kinetic barrier on the vessels, and as of that they do not even have any Element Zero onboard."

"Impossible. How did they use the relay then?" Gallis interrupted in anger and surprise.

"Lieutenant. Asteroids were propelled through mass relays during the Korgan Rebellions. It will not be necessary for vessels to have Element Zero onboard, it simply makes the travelling faster." Krylin explained, pressing a few buttons on his command chair as the fleet moved in for an attack.

"Captain. The unknown vessels are hailing us." the Communication Officer reported suddenly.

"Ignore them." Krylin growled as they got into weapon range. "Fire!" he ordered, and the fleet launched a coordinated attack on the vessels.

The vessels, seeing the Turian patrol open fire immediately speeded away from the relay, the frigate chasing them while the cruisers stood behind them for fire support.

"Destroy them. We will assault the world beyond the relay next." Krylin ordered, and the order was transmitted across the fleet, who followed it.

The frigates launched disruptor torpedoes at the craft, and just a single torpedo shredded through it's hull, turning it into a ball of flame and fireworks. The second vessel suffered a similar fate, and the third's engine section was pummelled repeatedly by the cruisers mass accelerator cannons.

In the end the ring-shaped drive was completely destroyed, leaving the ship dead in space. One of the frigates then moved closer, and completely destroyed it at knife-fight range.

"Excellent! I will send a message to the Hierarchy. Be ready, my soliders. Today we write history." Krylin smiled (Or what the Turians consider a smile) and left the bridge, leaving Lieutenant Gallis in command until he returned.

**Shanxi side of relay, 15 minutes later**

The reports began to flow in. On the bridge of the _Kiev_ Aya sat and pondered the possibilities. The dark red glow of the lights, who were lighted in such ways to save reactor power, plus the dead silence on the bridge made it more disturbing to some of the newer crewmembers. The fleet of SolForce vessels had lost contact with the 3 Independent Colony ships that travelled through the artifact, reporting to have found an identical relay on the other side lightyears away from Shanxi, proving Aya's theory of it being a transport station of some kind.

"Report immediately if something comes through the relay. I will contact Director Frostshire. Put all stations on high alert." Aya ordered, although not in her usual cheerful and happy-go-to attitude, instead it was a monotoned, yet intimidating voice.

A small sigh of relief was heard through the two levels of the bridge once she left...

**The communications room**

"Is this information accurate?" Margareth asked in anger while looking over the report.

"It is. Another First Contact. They opened fire on his. The inferior armour and technology of the Independent Colony ships were easy targets." Aya nodded in disgust, mostly due to the fact that there were only civilians aboard those vessels.

"I see..." Margareth deeply sighed. "I will order Task Force Avion to head to Shanxi at it's best speed. If my calculations are correct, then they shall arrive within 2 hours. I am commanding you to defend the artifact til then."

"And what of the colony?" Aya asked. She did not really care for Shanxi, but if it was lost then surely the Independent Colonies would be enraged.

"There is a research laboratory on-site. I want you to deploy your marine division (3) and heavy infantry to secure the lab, take all information from it, then destroy the structure. Once all SolForce personel is evacuated, bomb the colony."

"Yes, Director." Aya saluted Margareth before the hologram vanished, Aya heading back to the bridge afterwards.

**Back on the bridge of the **_**Kiev**_

"Captain? Did we receive any orders?" one of the crewmembers asked.

"We did. Defend the artifact with everything we have. Get the Destroyers back from their patrol, and the Cruisers ready to attack from this asteroid field. I don't want a single ship slipping through to Shanxi. Also, launch all marines and heavy infantry onto this site, they will extract information then return to their retrospective vessels." Aya gave the order, and the bridge became loud with the noises of the working crewmembers and combat alerts ringing off.

**Codex Entry**

(1): The Command Cruiser is a Cruiser-Class vessel solely designed to coordinate efforts of SolForce fleets. A step up from the weak and defenceless Command Destroyers, the Command Cruiser possesses advanced communication equipment along with scanners and sensors. Although they have weapon mounts, they are still meant to be behind the lines, as the loss of the vessel will terminate all of the advantages it brings with it. (Example: Planning on where vessels drops into combat from Nodespace, allow to order which vessels come out of Nodespace should vessels be lost and allowing commanders to order ships with pin-point accuracy.)

(2): Daughter of Conrad Vance, the well known first Chief of Scientific Staff in SolForce. Born with a split-personality disorder. She is quite eccentric, cheerful and friendly, but at times can become a ruthless, efficient and cold strategist. Due to this she was offered a seat on the Military Council. She showed her split-personality for the first time during the campaigns against the Morrigi, but was commanded away from the combat zones a few years later, when the mysterious artifact at Shanxi was discovered by Black List.

(3): The SolForce marine divisions are both the combat personnel on the ground and in space. Marines wear a completely black undersuit for camouflage, a sealed helmet armed with bulletproof glass to protect it's wearer, and then the upper grey combat armour like the chest plate, gloves, arm protectors, armoured boots and leg protectors. The standard firearm for the marines is the DMR-252D, created in 252 AHA due to a lack of suitable weapons to be used when invading hostile worlds. It is highly customizable, being able to be fitted with a variety of various attachments. To name a few would be the grenade launcher, plasma shotgun, holographic sight, suppressor and shock bayonet.

**Author's Note**

This chapter really made my head spin. I had to rewrite it 5 times! The Turian side of the incident didn't seem to...well...Turian-ish. Hopefully this will fit. And for those who don't like cliffhangers, I am sorry. By I will give a huge thank you to all of you who have supported this story, and wanted me to write more. Rest assured that I will continue this, and the Battle of Shanxi will begin proper in Part 2.

And yes, I do know this was a little on the shorter side, but I did spend 48 hours thinking on how to make this longer, so this is my best effort here.

*Update* I added a few bits and peices to the Turian conversation. My head works in strange ways, as the idea just came to me this morning when i woke up.


	4. Message

**Message...**

This will merely be a statement. Now, i know that a number of you who read this story is wondering when Chaper 4 will be posted. I will say i am working on it, but progress is slow, as i have become quite sick this last month.

I need to shelf this for the time begin so i can rest, but this will not mean i will leave the story for dead. I hope that this will not anger any of you, and that you will be patient for the next chapter.

And finally, i will say that a number of you have pointed out mistakes, which am grateful to. I respect criticism in all it's forms, but outright flaming will only annoy me. Despite this i have recived a number of PM's asking me why my Humanity did this and that. I will answer it in the next chapter, just to clear things up there.


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